Travel News
New Airline Routes and Route Changes
South America
Morocco-based Royal Air Maroc will begin three weekly round-trip flights between Casablanca, Morocco and São Paulo.
Ecuador-based TAME will increase its Guayaquil, Ecuador to New York JFK service from six times a week to daily starting December 10. The route will return to its six times a week from January 13, 2014 to May 31, 2014.
Avianca now flies daily round-trips between Medellín, Colombia and Lima. The airline now also offers six weekly flights between Lima and Cali, Colombia.
Chile-based LAN Airlines will introduce twice-weekly service between Bogotá, Colombia and Aruba, beginning December 1.
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| BQB Airlines |
Uruguay-based BQB Airlines will begin weekly flights between Montevideo, Uruguay and Florianopolis, Brazil
on December 14. On December 16, it will begin flying four weekly flights between Montevideo and Curitiba, Brazil.
Mexico
U.S.-based MetJet will launch weekly round-trip flights
between Southwest Florida Airport in Fort Myers, Florida and Cancun, Mexico on December 15. The service will run through May 15.
From December 2013 to April 2014, U.S.-based Delta Air Lines will operate four non-stop flights per week to Mazatlan, Mexico, from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in Minnesota (U.S.). Delta will also increase its service between Los Angeles International Airport (California, U.S.) and Cancun, Mexico to daily (from weekly) on December 19.
Canada-based SunWing Airlines will begin seasonal weekly flights between Montreal, Canada and Aruba on December 16. The airline will also begin seasonal weekly flights between Montreal and Ixtapa, Mexico on December 17.
Central America
On December 21, Delta Air Lines will also begin weekly flights on three routes between cities in the U.S. and Central America: Los Angeles, California-Belize City, Belize; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota-San Jose, Costa Rica; and New York JFK-Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Panama-based Copa Airlines will begin nonstop service four times a week from Panama City to Tampa, Florida (U.S.), on December 16.
Copa Airlines will also add four additional flights between Panama City and Las Vegas, Nevada (U.S.) beginning December 13; that will bring its total flights on the route to 11 weekly round-trips.
Caribbean
U.S.-based Delta Air Lines will begin flying between its U.S. hub in Atlanta, Georgia and Kingston, Jamaica on December 19.
Beginning December 21, U.S.-based Delta Air Line will begin seasonal Saturday flights between Indianapolis, Indiana (U.S.) and Montego Bay, Jamaica, and between Indianapolis and Nassau, Bahamas.
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| Denver, Colorado |
U.S.-based Frontier Airlines plans to introduce service
between Denver, Colorado (U.S.) and Montego Bay, Jamaica, beginning December 22.
Copa Airlines plans to increase service between its Panama City hub and Kingston, Jamaica to four weekly flights (from three), beginning December 16. It also plans to increase service between Panama City and Montego Bay, Jamaica to five weekly flights (from four), beginning December 11.
U.S.-based Cape Air will reinstate daily service between St. Thomas and Tortola, British Virgin Islands on December 16.
Copa also plans to increase service between Panama City and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic to 30 weekly flights (from 25) on December 14. And it plans to increase flights between Panama City and St. Maarten to four weekly from two, beginning December 12.
On December 21, Delta Air Lines will begin flying between Orlando, Florida (U.S.) and Nassau, Bahamas.
U.S.-based JetBlue will introduce two daily nonstop flights between Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Fort Lauderdale, Florida (U.S.), as well as one daily flight between Port-au-Prince and New York JFK, starting December 5.
Canada-based Sunwing Airlines will offer new nonstop service between Toronto (Pearson), Canada and Curaçao from December 15 through March 30, 2014.
Sunwing will also begin weekly winter service on January 16, 2014 from the Canadian cities of Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Edmonton to Freeport, Grand Bahama, as well as year-round flights from Toronto.
Russia-based Transaero Airlines will launch a new weekly route from Moscow to Havana, Cuba starting December 28.
International Connections
U.S.-based United Airlines will launch a second daily flight between Houston, Texas (U.S.) and Tokyo Narita and new daily service to Munich in the Summer 2014 season.
Chile-based LAN Airlines will add a seventh weekly round-trip flight from Santiago de Chile to Auckland, New Zealand and Sydney, Australia beginning in January 2014.
Other Airline News
Spain-based Vueling will begin adding in-flight Wi-Fi to its fleet in December.
Air Turks and Caicos is changing its name to InterCaribbean Airways, and plans to expand its western Caribbean flights in the coming months.
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| TSA PreCheck |
U.S.-based Southwest Airlines and Jet Blue Airways are the latest carriers to adopt TSA PreCheck, which allows selected "trusted travelers" to pass through security with more relaxed procedures, including keeping on their shoes and belts.
Southwest Airlines is also the latest carrier to announce that its passengers can keep their electronic devices on throughout the flight, with "gate-to-gate" access.
U.S.-based Delta Air Lines now provides its elite "Diamond" level frequent fliers with rides in Porsches to their gates at Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul and New York JFK international airports; it has provided such service at its Atlanta hub since 2011.
In an effort to boost profitability, U.S.-based United Airlines says it will revamp its website, slash costs by $2 billion annually and shift more of its overseas flying to Europe from Asia. The airline also plans to increase revenue from add-on fees it charges to passengers.
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| American Airlines A321 |
U.S.-based American Airlines took delivery of the first Airbus A321 trans-continental aircraft, which has fully lie-flat First and Business Class seats. American will put the A321 into service next year on its New York JFK to Los Angeles and New York JFK to San Francisco routes.
Airport News
Boston's Logan International Airport is the first airport in the U.S. to install a full-runway scanning system, which should make takeoffs and landing safer by sounding alerts when debris, junk or hunks of airplanes are on the runway.
Four U.S. airports now have new automatic passport kiosks, which speed up immigration: Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, New York-JFK International Airport and Miami International Airport.
The contract to construct and operate a new airport in Cusco, Peru has been postponed. Originally scheduled for December 23, the date has now changed to February 28, 2014.
Hotel News
Colombia-based GHL Hoteles International will operate the Kura Hulanda Hotel & Spa and the Kura Hulanda Lodge & Beach Club in Curacao. Closed since the end of October, both properties will reopen soon after GHL takes over management on December 1.
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| Holiday Inn Bucaramanga Cacique |
InterContinental Hotels Group opened a new-build 18-story Holiday Inn Bucaramanga Cacique hotel in northeastern Colombia. Amenities at the property include an indoor pool, business center, rooftop bar and restaurant. It has 11,000 square feet of meeting space.
The 386-room El San Juan Resort & Casino, a Hilton Hotel, has completed a renovation, which includes a new corporate lounge, revamped guest rooms, a new fitness center and the first Caribbean outpost of the Meat Market Miami restaurant.
The 178-room Magdalena Grand in Tobago assumed management of the 18-hole Tobago Plantations Golf Course and plans to spend $2 million to refurbish it. Once it officially opens on December 1, the course will be operated as part of the newly named Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort.
After a $40 million renovation, Vacation Express Luxury Collection opened the Royalton White Sands resort in Trelawny, Jamaica. The 352-room resort, which was formerly the Breezes Trelawny Resort & Spa, is located 40 minutes from the airport. It has free Wi-Fi throughout the pr
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| Holiday Inn Resort Aruba |
operty.
The 597-room Holiday Inn Resort Aruba will complete its $20 million refurbishment by mid-December. Renovations include a redesigned lobby area, new dining options, a new spa and fitness center and a makeover of all guestrooms.
Como Hotels and Resorts will open its first U.S. property in Miami Beach, called The Metropolitan, in December. The hotel will have 74 guestrooms, a private dock on the bay, two restaurants and a spa.
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants has taken over management of the Angler's Boutique Resort in Miami Beach. Through its new management, 83 new rooms will be added to the property's 48.
Marriott International reached an agreement with real estate investment trust FibraHotel to develop 20 hotels in Mexico, which Marriott will operate, by 2016.
BQB Airlines by Robert Underwood; Denver, Colorado by Jeff Turner via Wikimedia Commons; TSA PreCheck by Dion Hinchcliffe; American Airlines A321, courtesy American Airlines; Holiday Inn Bucaramanga Cacique, courtesy Holiday Inn; Holiday Inn Resort Aruba. courtesy Holiday Inn
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